Shooting His Shot
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Duskdog, Sia
Date Posted: 21st May 2024
Characters: H'taysh, Aydhara
Description: Haysh takes a chance on Aydhara, because hot girl
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 11, day 24 of Turn 11
Notes: Mentioned: Arlin, Rabain
Haysh had to admit that Arlin had been right, as it turned out: having actual reason to work and study side-by-side with girls _was_ pretty great. It wasn’t as _fun_ as spending time with them outside of chores and lessons, sure, but it _did_ give Haysh a lot more time with them in general, and that meant a lot more time to look at them, and maybe even decide if he “clicked” with them rather than just going for the hottest girl in the group.
That didn’t stop him from also checking out the hottest girls in the group, though. There were a lot of pretty ones, maybe even prettier than they were back at the Hold, despite their tendency to be less... well, overall ladylike. Being ladylike was over-rated, anyway, and these girls probably weren’t wringing their hands about their virtue, either, which suited him just fine.
Aydhara, he’d decided, was the whole package. She was beautiful, and vivacious -- and, more importantly, he hadn’t seen her cozying up to any boy in particular, so she was potentially available.
He slipped into the seat next to her at the Dining Hall, grinning in a manner that he thought was charming, but actually just looked a little goofy. “Hey Aydhara. Heydhara, haha! This seat taken?”
Aydhara looked up from her meal, frowning a little at the tease. Like she'd never heard that one before. She knew Haysh and his buddies already and hadn't bothered to interact more than what was needed in classes. The girls were a lot more interesting. "Hey-sh." She said, "It's not taken. Have at it."
Haysh made a little strangled sound of delight. “Hey-sh? _Hey-sh!_ AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” He couldn’t believe that had never occurred to him before. He couldn’t believe he may have just met the woman he wanted to marry.
(Okay, maybe not actually, but in this moment… _yes_.)
“Oh, you _get_ me, I’m so glad I sat here,” he said, once he’d gotten over his fit of laughter. “A sense of humor is like… the most attractive thing in a girl. Hey, hey… how many goldriders does it take to change a lightbulb?”
Aydhara patiently waited for his laughter to cease (she kept eating her dinner) and wrinkled her nose at the joke. It wasn't the first time she'd heard that one either. "My Mom gets my Dad to do it." She said. "Was that the answer you were looking for, or did you want the one where she stands still and the world revolves around her?"
His face fell.. “Oh, uh… yeah. The second one. Ha ha, so you’ve heard that one, okay… I’ll try a different one. So… I had a conversation with a dolphin once.” He paused for dramatic effect. “It felt like we really _clicked_.”
Aydhara's lips quirked just a little bit. The persistence won him a point. "Got any more ready to go? Do you have a list, or are you thinking of them as you go?"
“Both!” he replied enthusiastically. “I’ve got some I just really like, but I try to make up new ones all the time. That’s probably the most fun part.” He thought for a moment. “Okay, try this one: Somebody glued my deck of cards together.” He paused again, his lips pursing as he tried hard not to burst out laughing in anticipation. “I don’t know how to deal with it.”
"Good one." She said with all the brightness of someone that didn't find it nearly as funny. "Is this the charm you put on just for the girls, or do you flirt with Rabain like this too?"
Haysh’s mouth dropped open. “Wh-what?” he spluttered. “No! He’s my friend, my buddy! I tell him jokes, sure, but jokes aren’t always flirting! It’s not like _that_!” He wasn’t sure what to say, really, because the question had caught him so off-guard. His cheeks were redder than his hair, and he hoped she wouldn’t take that as a sign of him being flustered for all the wrong reasons. “Why, uh… what made you think that? Do you think _he_ flirts with _me_?”
"Oh yeah. I mean, have you seen the way the two of you act together? You guys should just kiss and get it over with." Whether he was flustered by the question or by his sudden realization of his undying love for his 'buddy' didn't matter to Aydhara; she grinned and rested her chin on one hand. "You're getting awful flustered over a boy that's just your buddy." She added with faux-innocence.
“Well, you’d be flustered too if somebody just threw something you’ve never thought about at you out of nowhere like that!” Haysh ran a hand through his hair nervously. “He’s probably not even a good kisser, anyway.” Well, that sounded disloyal, and he felt bad suddenly. “I mean, he probably is. When he kisses girls. Not me.” He sighed. “Okay, the more I talk, the worse it sounds. We’re just not a couple, okay? We’re _friends_.”
"Mhm. Okay." Aydhara didn't sound like she believed him. This was more fun than she'd thought it'd be. "You don't think about it? Really? You've never thought about how good a kisser he is? Like, how good it'd feel with his lips on your neck?"
He grasped the back of his own neck without thinking about it, grimacing a little. “Well, you just put it in my head, and that’s not fair. Are _you_ thinking about it? Should I tell him you’re hot for him?”
"You could, but I think he's only got eyes for you, lover boy." Aydhara drawled with a giggle. Rabain looked a little less mismatched than Haysh, but she wouldn't call him gorgeous, either. They were fine, for boys. Haysh didn't need to know that, though. "I'm not one to stand in the way of two dudes being more than bros. "
“We’re not more than bros,” Haysh said firmly, no longer smiling. “I don’t have any problem with other bros being… not bros… but we’re _not_.” He looked torn for a moment, looking down at his food and then back again, and finally stood and picked up his tray. “Y’know, you could’ve just told me my jokes were dumb and that you didn’t want me around. I wouldn’t be mad about it. I know I’m not everybody’s can of worms or whatever. I can take rejection. But _your_ jokes aren’t funny, either.”
He turned and walked away with his tray, realizing belatedly that he was walking towards a dead-end wall before turning back around and marching the other way, jaw set and eyes straight ahead so that he didn’t look at Aydhara as he passed by again.
Aydhara watched him leave and then leave again. "It wasn't the jokes that were funny." She said, more to herself, as she speared more tubers onto her fork.
Last updated on the May 24th 2024